In a statement, the companies hinted that the deal is linked to applications such as smartphone authentication.

Sonavation wrote that to improve user experience, OEMs are eliminating the home button and moving the fingerprint sensor to the back of the phone to offer a larger display viewing area.

In addition, OEMs need to offer low latency robust access. Current capacitive and optical based biometric solutions do not address the requirements driven by these market trends.

"The ADI/Sonavation ultrasound solution will utilize advanced biomedical technology that delivers the highest level of security in smart devices with industrial design flexibility, and allows for authentication through various materials for an uncompromising user experience. OEMs will have the flexibility to place the fingerprint sensor anywhere on the phone returning elegance to industrial design"

Karl Weintz, Sonavation CEO, said: We are excited to enter into this agreement with ADI, which will strengthen and expand our global presence. Sonavation is poised to revolutionize the ecosystem of connected devices as our ultrasound solution is architected based on the industry's future requirements to create platforms that will deliver highly secure operations, transactions, innovative use cases and most importantly, protection of the end-user's identity."

"Similar to the consumer sector, the healthcare, automotive, and industrial sectors need innovative and highly secure access solutions to help protect the information of their end customers," said Yusuf Jamal, Vice President, Consumer and Healthcare Group, Analog Devices. "This agreement lays the foundation for Analog Devices and Sonavation to deliver next-generation biometric fingerprint solutions to customers in these industries."